A Light Not Extinguished

Five Thousand Years: part 6

They finally broke their embrace. "There's a lot we need to talk about, Adam." Kathicia said.

The Emperor tipped his head towards the insides of the Palace, and both of them vanished from thin air with a cracking sound, leaving the Primarchs standing there.

"So." Iskandar broke the silence. "Chances of our new guest being Father's paramour?"

"Iskandar!" Dante exclaimed.

"What? We were all thinking about it."

"Impossible." Rogal stated with ironclad certainty. "Father does not take lovers."

"I mean," Marcus said cautiously. "Have we ever heard Father talk about his love life before? Has anyone?"

He was greeted with dead silence. "That's what I thought."

"You all are overthinking it." Tyric groused. "The way they greeted each other was more like sworn brothers than anything else."

"Well, there might be one person here who knows." As one, the Primarchs turned to Constantin Valdor. "Captain-General, do you know anything about the matter at hand?"

The First of the Ten Thousand considered the question, while the Emperor's sons waited with bated breath.

"No."

***

"They must have hidden you well." The Emperor muttered as they teleported into his own personal quarters. "If I had known that you were still alive—"

There was a squelching sound behind him. The Emperor spun on his heels to find Kathicia having plunged a hand into her own chest, blood spraying out.

"Kathicia?"

+Don't move.+ The psyker said. Blue cracks began to appear on her skin. +The only reason why I didn't do this earlier was because I truly couldn't sense Chaos within you.+ Kathicia's ice-cold voice rang out. +I know I can't defeat you. But my death will open a Warp Rift that even you would struggle to contain. And even if you could, Terra won't be unscathed— including the Astronomican.+

+Have you gone mad?+ The Emperor hissed.

+Not when I see a possible threat to humanity more terrible than I ever could be.+ Kathicia retorted. +You forget that I am the only person who knew you from the time before, and thus I know that you were never this monstrously strong.+

The pieces instantly fell into place inside the Emperor's transhuman mind. His encounter with the Corpse-Emperor had almost doubled his psychic might when the remnant of Sanguinius had given its gift of souls to him, but that would be inconceivable to an outsider. There were precious few ways to augment a psyker's natural reserves of strength to that degree— rare xenos archeotech, the imbibement of certain drugs. But the most well-known method was to make a bargain with the fell powers of the Warp— Chaos, but also other more obscure, darker forces. Kathicia's suicidal move made sense now when one took into consideration that nothing in the Warp was ever taken for granted.

+I will not hesitate to sacrifice myself if you of all people have been compromised.+ The Marshal continued. The Emperor recognized the look in her eyes— the stare of someone who cared little about their own life. +Explain yourself now or I'll take you and every last person on this planet to hell with me.+

+...there was a pact made.+ The Emperor said slowly. +But not with the Enemy.+

+So you admit it?+ Kathicia gave a snarl of both rage and agony as her fingers tightened around her heart, her soul on the brink of immolation. +To whom did you sell your soul to? The Ones of the Deep Warp? An Unborn Power? T̴̗͉͎̩̰̮̘̥̎̏̒͗͆̃̔͐͛̓͝͝͠͝͝ĥ̴̝̾͐ḛ̷̥͚̈́͌̅̑̕͝ ̶̡̹̟̮̠̩̻̩̪̙̯͔̬͙̘̊̏͐̄͛͛͛͛͒́̾̕͠D̴̥̪̻͇̟͕͆́̒̇͊̇͐̋̌͊̓̓͊̅̿̕̚͘ͅâ̶̡͉̼͕͎̹̏̈́̄̂̂̎̽̉̑̾̄͛͐̑̃͐̀́r̸̡̢̬̱̯̖̠͙̲͇̞̖͈̫͈͇̹̘͍͌̈̄̅̊̾̈́̔͌̿̽͝ḵ̵̘̝̭̣̈́̌̄͑͊̆̐̂̓͊͘ ̴͈͎̜̥͎̊͂̓͌́̈̇̕̚̚̕͝K̶̡̮̮̼̜̤͖̠̈́̑̅̾̐ì̶̢̢͉̤̞̰̦̜̰̪̼̹̥̖͖͙̄̓̅̇́̄̐͝n̵̦͚̪̙̱̯͙͚̣̹̲̺̫̘͇̯̮̯̈́́͆̎̀̆͘͠g̶̜̺͓̼̞̘̠͍͔͙̲͖͙̈́̉͑͐͊̔̑̚͝—+

+I would never do such a thing.+ The Emperor kept his voice calm, trying to stop one of his oldest friends going over the edge. +Perhaps it would be best if I showed you.+ Carefully, as to not alarm Kathicia, he drew a wisp of memory out and let it take shape around them.

Silently, Kathicia watched as they were transported into a vision of the past, below the foot of the Corpse Emperor's throne. Both of them winced as the Corpse-Emperor's dread voice rang throughout the chamber, portraying an age that might yet come, and the Angel's ghost parting gift to the Emperor.

Kathicia loosened the grip around her own heart. "...is this true?"

"Upon everything that we fought for." The Emperor answered.

+Swear it.+ Kathicia demanded. Old symbols and numbers began to flash around her— the Aerythmetical Equations of the Golden Age, being used to create a binding pact that could damage even the Emperor if it was broken. +SWEAR IT, HE WHO IS ANATHEMA!+

+I do solemnly swear.+ The Emperor boomed, staring Kathicia dead in the eyes. +On my soul and authority.+

The building pressure in the room vanished, the scream of the Warp silenced as the pact locked into place. Warily, Kathicia stared back at him, only sitting down on a chair after several seconds had passed and the pact had not responded.

"...apologies. I had to make sure." The Marshal muttered. "The Strife showed that even the best of us could fall. Couldn't trust anything when I was trapped in the beyond." Her hands twitched. "Always lying. Over and over again, saying the same things. That humanity was no more, that you were dead, that you had fallen—"

Carefully, the Emperor sat down slowly, recognizing the symptoms of shell shock on his old comrade. "You don't need to apologize after everything you've done for me, Kathicia. I don't expect anyone to come out from the Warp in perfect mental health, after so long."

Kathicia lowered her head, staring at the floor. "After so long..." She repeated, her voice old and weary. "I took what information I could, on the way here." Her hands began to shake again. "Did you kill all of them? The Iron Minds?"

"...Yes." The Emperor didn't try to hide it.

The psyker let out a sorrowful sigh, laden with the pain of ages. "I know this was the only way it could have ended, but..." Her voice trailed off. "No, I suppose it's too late now, isn't it? We were so close to winning. We were so close."

Both of humanity's strongest warriors stared at the floor in silence. They remained like that for quite some time.

"Well." Kathicia broke the silence. "No point in moping around now. Do you have something to drink? We probably have a lot of talking to do."

"Someone is already on the way." The Emperor answered. "Do you still like honey tea?"

"Always." The psyker's lips quirked upwards. "Now, let's be frank here. I assume that you want me to join this... Imperium of yours."

The Emperor folded his hands together. "The Imperium ended the Strife, old friend. I understand that you may have some issues with it— but I can see the Path now, Kathicia, brighter than ever before. The Enemy is afraid. And if you of all people were to lend your strength to it, then the long-denied victory shall finally be ours. Let us fight side by side again."

"No, Adam." Kathicia shook her head. "I don't expect the Imperium to be perfect. It's true that I don't agree with some aspects of it, but I'm not expecting you to build a second Federation. No, my main issue with the Imperium—" She pointed a finger at the Anathema. "Is you."

"I thought we had just clarified that matter." The Emperor said, his voice mildly bemused.

"Not that. It's the position that you've placed yourself in." Kathicia put down her hand. "They call you the Emperor, the Master of Mankind. The Imperator. The absolute highest authority in the Imperium. I'm not going to argue with you about the finer points of authoritarianism or political systems, nor the chaos that would unfold if you were to perish. But I need to know one thing." The blue glow in her eyes grew brighter. "When all is said and done, when the ash of war has settled and the Warp finally calms, will you step down from the throne?"

"The throne has only ever been a means to an end." The Emperor answered evenly. "When humanity has finally grown to the point when they do not need me anymore... there will no longer be the need for an Emperor as a figurehead."

Kathicia drummed her fingers on her lap. "Cryptic as ever. A younger me would have fought you over this." She sighed again. "But I'm old and tired. You'll have my allegiance for now, Adam. But make no mistake— stray from the path that you have set for yourself, and I will kill you."

The Emperor merely nodded in acknowledgement. "I expect no less from you." The door to the chamber opened, and a Custodian strode in, balancing a full tea set on one hand. Carefully setting it down, he turned to face his master. "Sire?"

The Emperor waved off the unspoken question. "All is well, Ra. Tell Constantin that Terra is no longer under threat."

"The petrification on your brothers' armour will wear off in about an hour." Kathicia chimed in, already reaching for the teapot. "No need to be alarmed."

"...As you wish, sire." Ra Endymion turned and left the chamber.

"Well, this is nice." Kathicia commented as she poured herself a cup. "A few thousand years really makes you yearn for the little things." She took a sip. "Mmmm. Say, what did you put in your sons anyway? They don't quite look like anything I've seen before."

"Molech happened." Adam telekinetically grasped the tea inside the pot, the liquid floating out of the spout by itself and settling into his cup. "They're the hopes and dreams of mankind given shape. My legacy." A hint of parental pride entered his voice. "And my sons have exceeded all expectations. I wish you had been there in their youth, Kathicia. They really were adorable."

"You have pictures?"

"Many."

"Pft!" Kathicia snorted. "Never thought you were the sort to get sentimental, old man. Things really have changed."

They settled back into a comfortable silence, one that the Emperor eventually broke. "About the terms of your employment—"

"An apartment on Terra. Three months of vacation before I properly begin so I can work out all the aches from my jaunt in hell." Kathicia listed off. "That's the immediate terms for now. As for the long term..." Her eyes flashed dangerously. "There are still vermin in the Webway. I assume your plans have taken them into account?"

"Yes." The Emperor didn't fail to notice how the psyker's hands had tightened into fists, sparks of lightning flying from her eyes.

"Tell me everything." Kathicia hissed. "For five thousand years I clung to life out of spite waiting for this. You know what they did to us. The galaxy may have forgotten the details of their crimes, but you and I were there firsthand. And now that I am returned, I will make them pay for it in their blood." She slammed a fist on the table. "You want my loyalty? You know what I want."

The Emperor watched her evenly. "...We can come to an arrangement."

***